Opened Eyes AU & OC
by Venturer
Summary: The Walking Dead TV show depicts a world already ravaged by Zombies. I wanted to focus on the beginning. I did take some creative liberties. Rated T for Mild Language, Blood and Gore,Disturbing Situations and Thematic Elements. All characters are original.
1. Opened Eyes Chapter 1

Opened Eyes

PLEASE REVIEW, this is the edited version of the first chapter. I found a lot of mistakes the first time through. If you find any mistakes please let me know and also let me know if you like! I would like to have a Beta Reader if anyone is interested. Without reviews, I probably won't post too many chapters.

Chapter 1

Opening her eyes, Aisha was blinded by the sun's rays coming through the window across her light skin. She heard a loud screaming in her ears, it wouldn't stop. She covered her ears and scrunched her face hoping that it would help drown the noise out. When she finally calmed down and came to her senses she realized that the phone was ringing. Her friend James thought it would be funny if he recorded his voice and set it as her ring tone.

She leaned over, her light messy brown hair hanging over her face, and grabbed the phone and with an extremely groggy voice she croaked out, "Hello."

An anxious voice sounded from the other end, "Aisha, are you ok? Why is your voice sounding so bad? Are you sick? What color is your skin? Are you bleeding? Where are you? I'll come right away…

Cutting her off Aisha replied a calm yet still groggy, "Yes, I'm ok, and hey my voice is beautiful shut up! I still have that sexy tan. No I'm not bleeding and I'm at home in bed."

Aisha's brain was slowly catching up to her, coming out of rest mode itself. She recognized it as her sister Melanie's voice.

"Sexy tan! Ha! Well, maybe one day, but you're still as white as a glow-in the-dark-cracker." She ended her sentence with a loud guffaw.

"Fine, you win. Now what do you want?"

"A bunch of us are going down to the night club tonight for a good time" Emphasizing the good a ridiculous amount.

"Ugh, really, I'm still hung over from last night, I don't know if I can take that kind of abuse from you"

Ignoring everything Aisha just said she ordered, "Tonight the Paladin be there or miss out" Then there was a click.

Damn that ring tone! She didn't think that's what James had meant when he recorded the ring tone. As she got out bed she slipped on her slippers and walked over to look out her window at the bustling streets of L.A. below, thinking about how best to get back at him.

Satisfied with slipping some powdered laxative in his beer that she knew he would drink that night she started her morning routine. Starting by going online, and like every other day skipped the annoying headlines, an action that Aisha would come to regret later she checked her email. She was surprised to find an email from James, asking her to come to some gathering that he was part of. James had always been involved with extremists from groups saying that the world would end in '99, '04, and '09. Naturally he was predicting it again. People had been getting sick, similar to the swine flu scare that had swept the nation a few years ago. The email went something like this:

Aisha,

'You are formally invited to the event of a lifetime. An event that will save your life from this rampant strand of Yellow Fever that has been temporarily dubbed Yellow Fever Plus due the lack of knowledge about this new disease and the intense yellow coloration that pollutes the skin….'

Not caring to read past that, she knew he always exaggerated events like this, and the world would have ended several times over if half of his predictions had been proven to be true. In the end, Michael was a good friend to have in times of need. There had been a terrible earthquake last year in 2013 in Southern California when Aisha had lived close to the San Andreas Fault line. That had truly taken everything away from her. But James was there with emergency supplies food and water. He had been with hundreds of people from different religions and other groups that helped rebuild the area. The short of it was that James had been there for Aisha several times and so she had subscribed to his newsletters.

Even though Aisha believed that James was exaggerating slightly, she knew that this disease was a real danger. Hundreds had contracted the disease and half of them were dead, the other half wishing that they were. Aisha didn't watch the news much, but last week the reports went something like this;

Named after Yellow Fever, this disease had similar symptoms. Internal and external bleeding were common, a high temperature of course, also a signature symptom is the quick retiring of blood cells. When the blood cells retire they go to the liver to be disposed of and the high quantity of blood cells can't be replaced so it gives a tinge of yellow to the skin.

She'd heard that people would oftentimes just continuously vomit blood until they died. Others would have their blood cells completely die off and end up like an extremely dry raisin. One famous report was that of a man named Mars whose symptoms included the killing of his pigments almost completely, which left a dead, gray shadow of a man behind.

"Stop it!" She'd yelled out to herself. It was time to end these depressing thoughts and have one hell of a good day! Of course, she'd have to go to work her dead end job that would hopefully raise enough money for college one day, but still a good day nonetheless. Smiling she took off her tank top and shorts, she headed off to the shower to get ready for the day.

She finally was able to push the last paper at work that day and rushed to her car where she had packed, getting ready for the night. Grabbing a cute yellow gym bag that she'd used to carry her things around in she ran off to the work bathroom and began to get ready. Like many girls that night she wanted to dress to impress so she got ready and took her time.

Just over an hour later she had her iconic makeup of a girl who wanted to shine applied, her red sleeveless sundress with a cardigan over her shoulders, the beautiful high heels that matched her dress, and Aisha's dark brown hair was put up in a French Twist.

It was dark as she approached the night club in her '09 red Civic and Aisha's excitement had been building all day for this. Melanie always knew how to throw a great party and Aisha knew that she would regret the drinks and partying once again in the morning, but for now she didn't care.

As she got out of her car her sister called out to her, "Aisha! Finally made it did ya?"

"I'm here"

"Come on in, I want you to meet some of the gang!" Always peppy her sister grabbed her arm and they skipped arm in arm into the night club.

Once inside Melanie led her to a group of five people.

"You already know James and Michael" She gave hugs to these two as they were both very good friends, however when she hugged James she managed to slip into his drink a very special powder she had brought especially for him. James was a short Hispanic an inch or two taller than her, with short dark black hair and a coffee shaded skin tone. While Michael was white, but with a very nice tan, he was around half a foot taller than her, with dark brown hair done up in inch long spiked hair. She had gone to school with Michael for a long time and, just starting at UCLA, they were in class together once again. He was so cute that made her pulse throb and her skin tingle.

Melanie continued, "These other three are Hank, Lila, and Veronica." Hank was about her height, with skin that was a slightly darker shade than James', and dark brown hair that was long and hung around his head. Veronica was a tall, African American who had long black hair that was straightened to almost her waist. Lila was a short red head, with a lighter skin tone and hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail. After saying hi to everyone they went onto the dance floor and began to dance the night away.

However, after an hour or so of introducing herself to different guys and browsing the selection of men, she gave up. Aisha decided to get herself a shot of tequila at the bar. Sitting down she realized how tired she was, and wouldn't admit to anyone but slightly sweaty. As she started her drink she rationalized why she wouldn't flirt with Michael. Just nerves she supposed. She turned away from the bar on her swiveling stool. Next thing she knew is that the bar tender was yelling at her, no he was screaming at her. When she swiveled back she was sprayed with some wine and she laughed for a while, thinking some crazy rave had started. She realized that no one was laughing with her and the bartender was gone so she bashfully turned back to the dancing crowds, totally perplexed at what was happening around her.

Out of nowhere people started tackling other people, and bloodcurdling screams filled the air. To her left she saw one person tackle and break the knees inward of a young man who let out a silent scream, having no breath to make a sound. Screaming, Aisha got up and turning toward the exit, Out of the corner of her eye she saw the bartender pulling himself up with the bar and when she saw his face she couldn't stifle another scream. His face was missing; there was no nose and only half of an eye socket on his left side. Teeth marks surrounded the missing pieces. She screamed and swung her purse, knocking him back to the ground. All hell broke loose around her as people yelled and crammed themselves toward the main entrance only to find that the attackers seemed to be coming from outside the entrance double doors. People began to fight back, however as more and more blood puddled to the floor; it was clear who was winning. Suddenly something grabbed her arm forcefully, she reacted once again by swinging her purse at the assailant and hit Michael right in his face.

"Ow! What the…"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"We have to go!" Hank yelled this time from Michael's right.

"This way!" It was Lila who spoke this time from the other side of Michael.

They ran to the stage and as something ran toward Michael, he grabbed one of the DJ's microphone stands and beat the thing off the stage. Aisha stumbled, apparently going into some kind of shock. Lila grabbed her hand and yanked her forward. They went behind some curtains on the side of the stage and Aisha realized that they were heading toward a back door. She then picked her pace up and Lila didn't need to drag her any longer. She had a new found hope that she might get out of this butchers keep in one piece. When they finally got outside they found themselves in an alleyway and ran toward what looked like a main street at the end of it. Almost reaching the end of the alley someone ran into their path and rapidly looked around, when he or she saw the group the figure sprinted at them.

"Help!" 'At least they knew it was an actual person' Aisha thought. Out of nowhere the person had a shadow directly behind them, running even faster. Hank and Michael ran toward the person to hopefully help him. Michael still had the microphone stand in his hand, but Hank seemed to be hoping for some fist action, Aisha guessed. Michael got to the man first and wacked the following terror backwards with the pole part of the stand. Once it was on the ground it didn't move. The group gathered around the fallen man and we began noticing something familiar thing about the creature, yellow skin.

"Where are the others, where's my sister?" Aisha desperately asked interrupting the solemn feel.

"We don't know they were on the other side of the club" Michael replied.

"We need to focus, ok?" Hank was commanding in his voice and continued, "we are in one hell of a mess and need to concentrate!" Another moment of silence and he continued, "Now from what I understand James is part of a group that was prepared for something on the virus, is that correct?"

Aisha was able to force the words out of her trembling mouth, "yes, h-he wa-was with a group that pla-anned to have enough food and water for hundreds of people in case of a crisis like this." She barely got through the sentence and began to sob afterward on her knees.

Lila knelt next to her and gave her a hug, calming her and shushing.

"We can't stay here. We need to go now!" Hank yelled at them.

He yelled it a little too loudly and the sound attracted a few passing creatures. From the main street the creatures looked there direction and seemed to be sniffing toward them. Then without any more hesitation they raced toward the group of survivors. Lila pulled Aisha to her feet as the growls from the bleeding corpses began to gain on them. The three pursuers were faster and never seemed to run out of breath, even though their breathing was hard, coarse, and seemed to be gulping in air. As one approached the newcomer of their group he pulled out what looked like a large kitchen knife and struck back at the beast, putting a large gash in its chest. The creature stumbled and slowed as it let loose a scream that made your skin want to tear off of your muscle and crawl away. The other two creatures also were gaining although not as close as the first. Michael, who was the farthest ahead in the group, suddenly dove to the ground and with the stand that he still had in his hand, found a way to pry open a manhole cover with the pole end of his weapon.

"Get in!" One by one they jumped in without question. Michael was the last to jump in and after whacking one of the followers in its knees, sending it tumbling to the ground he also jumped in. He pulled the top closed and they were in utter darkness.


	2. Opened Eyes Chapter 2

Opened Eyes

Chapter 2

_Melanie's story_

In the nightclub Melanie called out to Aisha as saw the back of her head disappear into the crowd. Melanie tried to force her way through people toward her sister, but was tackled down to the ground. As she looked up from the floor, she saw a deformed face, with its lips hanging down and bloodied, one of its arms were chewed to the bone, and a chest with chunks missing from it. The monster let out a moan as it clumsily brought its mouth toward her.

Melanie's horror was amplified as its face suddenly was bashed in by a stool and blood covered her clothing. James looked down at her and helped her up from the ground. Veronica was just behind him, holding the stool and looking shaken.

Shaken, but able to pull herself together she asked, "Where is everyone?"

"On the other side of the club!" James answered, yelling over the chaos. "We have to go."

As if responding to him, the attackers seemed to have every entrance blocked and several of the bloodied bodies sluggishly made their ways toward them. Melanie pulled James back toward the back of the night club into the men's bathroom with Veronica right on their heels.

"Come on, there is a window in here where we can get out." Melanie said, hoping beyond hope there wasn't any random locks or anything they would have to worry about. She strained to reach it and then tried to climb on the sink to open the window that was about a foot beyond her reach. James hurried over and was barely able to open the window.

"We should be able to fit. Here, I'll give you a boost." James said. Veronica went first, squeezing her way through the tiny window. Then Melanie climbed up and when she had gotten through and just as James was about to climb up to the window, one of the bloodied creatures entered the restroom. As soon as James caught its eye it lunged after him. It was all the guy could do to not be slammed against the wall. He caught the back of the walking cadaver's head with his hands and slammed in down on a urinal, shattering the porcelain and causing the monster to be still. Another one came to the entrance of the bathroom, however James was able to hop up and climb through the window.

In the crowded street, Melanie looked around at all of the chaos. Grisly carcasses were scattered across the street, some being chewed on by other bloodied people, some of the bodies that seemed to be stiff just a few moments before rose up. It was utter pandemonium as people were running in every direction.

As soon as James was through the window, Veronica yelled to the group, "My house is just around the corner."

"Go!" James roared back. Off Veronica went, with Melanie and James immediately behind her.

After they ran down the street a ways they heard a scream behind them, "All you plaguers DIE!" Turning around Melanie saw a large, darker man pull out some kind of gun and begin to shoot, rapid fire, into the corpses around him. Unfortunately, a lot of the people were going down to in all of the disarray. James tackled Veronica, who was closest to him, and yelled for Melanie to duck down. Melanie did so and heard bullets whiz around them. She tried to crawl behind a building and looked back at the enraged man. Blood and body parts seemed to be falling all around, but the beasts kept coming. Several of the creatures received bullets to their bodies, fell to the floor only to slowly get back up: walking sluggishly toward the gunman. Melanie noticed that only those who were shot to the head seemed not to get back up. The trio watched as the man was finally taken down in a shower of the undead. They fled the scene, followed only by the screams of the man being torn apart.

Veronica led them down the dark alleyway, lucky for the group; most of the flesh-eaters were being attracted to the screaming man. Finally, they arrived on Veronica's street and snuck as quietly as they could toward her home. The screaming that had come from the man stopped abruptly, sending shivers down Melanie's spine. They stopped on the side yard of a house and peeked around the corner closest to Veronica's house, they saw about a half a dozen of the risen dead in the street pacing around.

James tried to stifle a sneeze, but the noise was all the beings needed to give direction to their roaming. Four or so of them began to head in the group's direction, stumbling forward, but walking a little quicker, with purpose.

Melanie broke the silence as the gap between the group and the pack of monsters became smaller and smaller, "come on, into this house." Frantically they spread out and searched around the yard for any unlocked door or open window. Veronica waved to them from around the opposite side of the house. As Melanie and James rounded the corner, Melanie almost screamed, but had her mouth covered by James as he tried to keep her quiet. A reanimated woman was crouched on the ground, eating the remains of a dog. Veronica pointed at a door that had been left open. James nodded and grabbed a brick lying in a once beautiful garden and crept slowly toward the abomination. A twig snapped underneath James' shoe and the beast turned around. 'She was a beautiful woman. A woman who had been living a normal life only a few days or even hours ago. How things change.' Melanie thought. Her thoughts were interrupted by the low moan of the dead woman. It charged toward James at a limping run and pinned him to the ground. Its mouth drooled onto James chest as it desperately struggled to bite into James' flesh. James wrestled with it until Melanie crushed the back of its head with the brick he had been carrying.

"Thank you," James' breathing was labored and heavy as he got up. They entered into the house and found themselves in a dark garage, the light of dusk dimly shone through small windows on the garage door. As Melanie inspected the garage she found bloodstains across the floor. She grabbed a crowbar, hoping that she wouldn't have to use it, and held it close to her as she searched the garage. Finding nothing, she reunited with the group that also had seemed to find some weapons. James was armed with a large piece of sharp metal, and Veronica had been lucky enough to find a revolver around the bloodstained area.

"Some kind of fight went down here," James said as he closed the door. "Let's secure the rest of the house to make sure that nothing is already living here."

The threesome snuck quietly through a door that led them to a living room. Blood could still be found in spots on the floor and furniture, but they found nothing as they searched the house. Melanie finally let her body relax and she found one of the few seats that wasn't bloodstained and threw off her shoes to relax. She wasn't going to lose her mind to this horrible plague on the earth. She was scared as all hell of the ravaged world around her, but she decided that she wasn't going to lose it.

"I'm going to turn on the TV to see if we can find out anything." James said as he switched on the television. Many of the channels were just on static, but a few were actually still on the air. Melanie watched as the newscaster talked about the fall of a military base to the Plagued, 'apparently that is what the creatures had been named' Melanie noted. From a camera on the base they saw footage of hordes of the Plagued swarming the base. The reporter explained that the sound of the gunfire seemed to have attracted them. Bodies had piled up, but what had really turned the tide were a few of the creatures inside of the base. People that had died from the evolved strand of yellow fever had passed away only to come back and attacked their comrades. From another camera on the base they saw a man trying to talk to one, 'Hey, you're supposed to be in bed private!' the man barked. The private continued to walk quickly toward the officer with a moan. 'Damn it, what the hell are you doing? Stop, or I will shoot you soldier.' He shot the private several times in the chest. Slowed down by the bullets the plagued man desperately lunged at its target and bit into the man's arm. The man writhed in pain and continued to shoot the monster that continually bit him until it was finally shot in the head. Passing out from blood loss, the victim fell on his face.

From a helicopters point of view they saw the base being overrun from the inside. Bodies littered the floor from both sides. Through a lack of preparation, and the advantage of surprise, this military base had fallen.

The newscaster continued, "Many other military bases have been abandoned as people try to find their families. A cure is being worked on in several different labs around the country and…." he was cut off by a scream off camera. "What the hell is going on? Oh my…" From off camera a Plagued woman lunged toward him and as he backed up he tripped to the floor. The monster dove on top of the man whose terrified screams overpowered any other sounds. James quickly grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.

"So, I'm going to go make something to eat." Veronica said in a shaky voice as she left the room.

James grabbed his cell phone and began to dial someone. Melanie was bored so went to explore the apartment further. When Melanie returned she heard James cursing under his breath as she walked toward the couch he was sitting on. "Are you ok?" She asked him.

"They're everywhere! Damn it!" He threw down his cell phone and walked away. Melanie looked at his phone, not wanting to be a snoop, but couldn't overcome her curiosity. She looked around to make sure that James was gone and looked at the phone. The last call was to James' voicemail so, redialing, she listened to it as a man's voice came on; Melanie recognized the voice as James' brother. 'We're ok, but we've locked ourselves in our house. Mom was bitten by someone, but she seems to be…' the man's voice trailed off and she could faintly here him continue talking in the distance, 'Mom you're finally awake, I'm leaving James a message is there anything that you want to sa…' the talking was replaced by screams and a loud thump hit the floor. Melanie ended the call, and looked up. James was watching her from the hallway with tears in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Melanie's voice was also broken by tears now. She got up from the couch and pulled him close. He silently cried on her shoulder.


	3. Opened Eyes Chapter 3

Opened Eyes

Chapter 3

Underground, that wasn't exactly where Aisha wanted to be right now. She couldn't see to her left or to her right. She reached out for the nearest person and grabbed their clothes to make sure she could stay close to someone.

"Whoa, now's not the time to get fresh!" It was Hank's voice and she realized she had grabbed his crotch. Jumping back she tripped into someone who clumsily caught her.

"Calm down everyone!" It was the newcomer's voice and also the voice of the person who caught her. Finally a light shined in the darkness, and Lila's phone was visible which illuminated everyone and a few feet in each direction. The new guy was a few inches taller than Aisha, a red tone to his light skin tone, and had messy blonde hair.

The sewers were quiet, not a sound in any direction. Too disgusted to sit down, everyone awkwardly stood there.

"Which way do we go?" Aisha said, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

"Well I say that we just go in a direction and when we find a way to get out lets peek around for more of the Plagued." Once again it was the newcomer that spoke. "I'm Derek, by the way" He winked at Lila after he said this.

"The Plagued?" Asked Aisha.

"Those who carry this disease, these are all people that have died and some sort of infirmity has taken over their minds, hence the only way to kill them is damage to the head or brain." Derek answered.

"No better ideas?" Michael asked.

So they headed off to the east and hoped that they could find some way to the surface. After walking for just under an hour, Aisha stumbled over something and screamed as she fell, unfortunately nobody caught her this time. The most beautiful and expensive dress that she owned and in any other situation she would freak out, but now she was so scared that she could care less. But, now cold, wet, and disgusting she could only hide inside her own haunted mind and see the face of the bartender, chewed on and bleeding. She collected herself and pulled away from her nightmares to look at what she tripped on. It was a body, but a body that was picked completely clean. It probably would have gotten up if it could, but there were no muscles left on the body to support it.

As they stepped around the skeleton Lila pointed the light farther down the tunnel and they saw they feet of another skeleton being picked clean by rats, but when they moved forward the light exposed a rabid human whose breathing was frighteningly fast and the grunts and groans from it haunted Aisha's ears. The light startled it and it looked up at the group with large green eyes and sagging skin all over its body. Instantaneously it jumped up and let loose a moan as it rushed toward Michael. Lucky for him he still had the pole he had taken from the night club. He held it out and the dead man ran right into it, as the metal went through its chest Michael let loose a scream as it continued toward him. The walking corpse pulled the pole as it climbed its way toward the survivors. Hank ran away, Lila pulled Michael away, and Aisha just screamed as the pole left Michael's hand and she became the new closest target. Then out of nowhere a bone came crushing down and pierced the skull of the oncoming creature. Hank twisted it and jerked it as the wails of the dead man echoed through the sewer. It only lasted a few moments but to Aisha it seemed as though it were forever. Finally the man stopped yelling and fell toward Hank, covering him in gore.

Everyone breathed for a while, Hank coughed up some of the guts that had sprayed into his mouth a little.

Finally, Michael broke the silence "We need to get out of here, they have the advantage down here where it's so dark"

They continued on for another uneventful half an hour and they finally caught on to the fact that they had been passing the sewer exits above them the entire time, just hadn't noticed them. None of them had ever been in a sewer, of course. They finally peeked out of one of the lids that covered the sewer and viewed the carnage, but silence above them. They crept out and hid in the nearest apartment building they could find, lucky to avoid any of the Plagued that passed their way. Seperating across the vacant apartment, they covered the windows with blankets, sheets, or whatever else they could find and boarded up the windows with a set of nails and random pieces of wood they could break off of chairs and other wooden furniture.

Michael broke the silence, "Well, there are two bedrooms so we'll take this one and you girls take the one down the halls. Everything is boarded up, but yell if anything is wrong."

"I found a pistol with a few rounds in the dresser." Hank said. "We need to gather up anything we can find as weapons, but I'll bet that shooting too often would be bad as it may attract the Plagued."

"Now that we have a break, we should find out what is going on out there, through the TV's, anyone's cell phones and keep an eye out for any hints to find out what happened to whomever lives here"

Each walking down the halls, Lila followed Aisha and they were surprised to see the length of the hallway as she went to the end room where they would be resting. Aisha really needed to change, it was the only thing on her mind. She could barely breathe in the mix of gore, human wastes, and sweat that covered her clothes and body. Ah, a shower, Aisha thought, now that would be nice.

"You smell like crap," Lila told her as they both entered the room. "Better see if there is anything that you can change into and throw those clothes out. No wait, you know what," she stepped toward Aisha and turned her around. She unzipped Aisha's dress and Lila gathered it to keep the sewage and other grime from getting all over the floor. "You hop in the shower and I'll try to find us some new clothes." Lila walked over to the closet and began to look for anything to wear or towels or anything.

"Thank you," Aisha whispered, as she stood in the middle of the room in her underwear.

"Of course," Lila said as she took off her own sewage covered clothing. "We really need to stick together, as sisters in this new…." She cut herself off and began to sob, falling to her knees. Aisha dropped next to her and hugged her as the realization of this new world hit their minds.


	4. Opened Eyes Chapter 4

Opened Eyes

Chapter 4

The next morning Aisha finally woke up, clean and smelling like the strawberry shampoo from the shower. Getting up she raised her arms letting her mind slowly wake up. She pulled on a robe that she had found over the blue bootie shorts and the green tank top she used as pajamas. Noticing that Lila was still asleep in the bed they had shared she went to the door to hear some yelling going on outside the door.

Leaning in she realized it was Derek's voice, "…if he is infected then we need to end him!"

"How do we know what it is, you can't just assume that he is turning into one of those… things!" Michael was talking, and Aisha assumed the worst and burst into the hallway.

"What's wrong with Hank?" Aisha yelled as she marched toward them.

"He just has a little fever is all," Michael calmly answered.

"A little fever, he's got the plague that is destroying our world," Derek retorted. "The cure isn't coming quick enough."

Cure? Aisha's ears perked up and she jumped in the conversation again, "Wait, there's a cure? What did you guys find out?" Her voice was raising with excitement now.

"Well, a cure for the fever that has been killing everyone, not a cure for this apocalypse that is going on." Michael answered her, once again in that calm voice that sometimes was the only thing that helped Aisha's sanity.

"The cure isn't coming fast enough!" Derek screamed out.

"You heard them; the military is going to spread it across the country like a rain you just have to breathe in for your body to build up immunity." Michael replied in a more commanding voice. "Now look, all we need to do is to hold out for a while before the military can get a better handle on this. We will take care of Hank, not kill him."

"Fine, but if he dies, we will throw him out the window before he can turn." Derek finished the argument and stormed off to the front living room.

Aisha shuttered, not wanting to picture having to lose one of her friend in such a fashion.

Michael looked at her, "are you two okay?"

Aisha looked up at him, he was probably at least a foot taller than her and she was 5'4, she felt comfortable being able to talk to him, "I'm okay, Lila is asleep and I think that I'm gonna make it…" She trailed off, still thinking about Hank.

"Look, I'm going to go and take care of Hank, if you need anything then just call me over," with that he turned and entered the room Hank was in.

Aisha went back to her room, looked at Lila's sleeping body and felt relieved by her chest still rising and falling. Such a gift, Aisha thought, to breathe and know that life is in your own control. She hoped that Hank could hold onto it. Going over to her side of the bed she pulled off her robe and cuddled close to Lila for comfort. She noticed that Lila was moving a little now, finally awake.

"Lila, good morning," Aisha whispered.

"Is it? I heard what was going on in the halls…" she trailed off and they both just looked at the wall for a while, silently. She started again, "How many more of us will die before this is over?" Tears ran down her cheeks and Aisha went to wipe them off of her face. When she did her hand seemed to burn for a moment and she let go. She leaned in to look at Lila's face. Aisha screamed, and Michael came charging into the room.

Michael just stood there, taken aback for a while. Hank soon after entered the room and queried, "What the hell is going on now!"

Aisha tried to force the words that didn't want to leave her mouth, "Sh-she has… the yellow fever!" Aisha jumped out of bed, hoping that she hadn't already been contaminated and ran back to the shower attached to their room. She could hear the same argument that happened earlier, only about Lila. Aisha choked on this thought and tears flushed down her face. She had start to come to think of Lila as a sister… but now, now she may have to kill her. She knew that she wouldn't be able to do it and Michael or Derek would. She hoped that Derek would do it, she respected him and looked up to him as the bold one that would probably save their little group in the future, but she looked on Michael as so much more.

She jumped as she heard a voice outside the bathroom door calling in, "Are you okay?" It was Michael. She tried to swallow her fears and get past her shaky voice. She didn't want anyone to see her like this, breaking down every time something bad happened; it was so new still. The image of Lila's yellow face haunted her mind for a few moments, the scabs that had come to appear and eat at her.

She shook it off, and replied to Michael, "No, but just give me some time alone."

"All right." With that she heard his footsteps grow fainter away. This was going to be a longest week of her life, she thought as she turned the shower on to hopefully decontaminate herself.

After about a half an hour long shower the water began to get cold and Aisha turned it off. Getting out of the shower she pulled the nearest towel over her and walked back toward their room, not wanting to go back to the world out there and leave her comfortable safe haven that the shower had given her so briefly. She would definitely be visiting that shower a lot, Aisha thought to herself.

Entering the room, she noticed that Lila was gone. They probably put her in the same room as Hank. No one was in the room, so she quickly put on a blue t-shirt and a tight fitting pair of Levi's that she found in the closet. She still couldn't find any shoes who fit her unfortunately, it seemed that the girl that lived in this room before was really small. All her clothes stuck to her body, her pants were tight, and the underwear she found hugged her a little too tight. She hoped maybe to impress Michael, but felt a little too skanky to truly impress someone right now.

Opening the door to the hallway, a chill went down Aisha's spine because of how dark it was. She walked down the hall cautiously, grabbing a large chunk of wood that was broken off a chair from the day before they hadn't used. Nearing the end of the hallway she peeked through the door of the room that Hank had been in to find it empty. Her heart rate accelerated as a million scenarios flew through her head, none of them ending well. She raised the piece of wood and when she got to the living room, she found the door ripped apart and no evidence of bodies or anything. Looking around a little more, she noticed outside of the door a trail of blood. She followed it down the hallway as slowly and quietly as she could.

The apartment complex was all indoors, similar to a hotel and the hallways stretched off into either direction before opening into the sunlight. Apartment doors lined either side of the hallway, some of them opened or some of them closed. If her heart rate was accelerated before, it was nothing compared to now. She looked into each room as she approached them. Looking in one room at the end of the hallway she saw a little girl in the corner, with her back toward Aisha.

"Are you okay?" The little girl grunted, Aisha couldn't imagine what this little girl had been through. As she got closer, she saw what was really going on. The little girl was chewing on a female corpse, what could have been her mother. Backing slowly out of the room, Aisha didn't want to make any noise. Unfortunately for her, noise wasn't what attracted the little girl. The girl leaned up from her meal and began to sniff the air. Aisha stopped cold and held her breathe. The child then turned around and began to run toward Aisha. Her arms came down hard with the board of wood that she was holding and crashed on the girl's head sending her flying to the ground. The impact shattered the back of her skull and Aisha stepped down hard, crushing the unprotected brain, causing enough damage that the girl didn't get up.

Aisha was shaking, not believing that she just killed a little girl. Well, not really killed, but… She couldn't think about it anymore. If she wanted to survive then she would have to pull it together. She searched the apartment and found some tennis shoes that fit her pretty well, although maybe a little big. Searching the apartment a little more, she found a flashlight, some batteries, and a backpack filled with emergency supplies. Some cans of food, a first aid kit, and some rope brought sighs of relief to Aisha. Hope, however slight, was the only thing keeping her mind together. She left the apartment and continued to follow the trail of blood that had led her out of the apartment in the first place.

Entering the courtyard in the center of the complex the cool sprinkling of rain touched her skin, she saw some bodies scattered around and turned to vomit. Pouring out of her mouth, Aisha prayed that this would all be over soon, and that she would be able to keep it together. Finally, she stopped and pulled herself together, wiping tears off of her face. She turned around to continue following the trail and screamed. The bodies that only a moment ago were scattered along the floor began to rise and stumble toward her. She ran, it was the only thing to do now. Unfortunately, they also ran and much faster. Having a very slim head start she ran down the path the blood had been leaving only to find a corpse at the end of it crawling on the ground. Missing a leg it pulled itself forward as if to continue chasing something. Moving so slow it didn't pose a threat like the twenty or so plagued following her and gaining. As she ran past the creature creeping along the ground she startled as she recognized that the face belonged to Hank. That was all she needed, she now ran with her mind blank, ignoring the pain in her legs and side that threatened to trip her and send her hurtling to the ground. She heard one of the plagued's breath only a few feet behind her and she threw her body around and slammed the board into its face, sending it down to the ground for a few moments. All that was left was a mass of bodies in front of her. The troop of twenty plagued had turned into far more, more than she cared to count. This was her time to die.

She dropped to her knees, because her legs wouldn't obey her anymore. They burned and Aisha knew that it was nothing compared to the pain she was about to feel. Her vision blurred and was going darker as her body seemed to obey her less and less. The rain slammed unforgivingly onto her body and lightning, no… not lightning. A light blinded her, a moving light? Aisha's mind was frazzled and she saw bodies begin to fly as a red blur crossed before her eyes. She was picked up, she braced herself for the teeth that would sink into her flesh. Instead she was thrown onto a cushion, her mind wasn't processing what was happening completely.

The only thing that processed was a beautiful calming voice, "Everything is going to be fine now." She bounced and felt stops and turns every few seconds, even heard glass shatter and felt it cut her body a little. But Aisha trusted that voice, the only one she felt that she could anymore. Michael.


	5. Opened Eyes Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_Melanie's Story_

Opened Eyes

Besides a few words of thanks to Veronica, the dinner that ensued was extremely quiet. "Tomorrow I want to make it the rest of the way to my house, if you two want to kick it here I understand." Veronica continued. "I have a few guns at my house that I would love to have right now."

"I don't know if we should risk it. We shouldn't be around those things more than we have to!" James argued.

"I told you I'm going. You don't have to come if you don't want to. Melanie, are you going to come with me?" Veronica enquired

"Yeah, we need to find weapons if we are going to survive. On top of that, we don't have enough food to stay here for very long." Melanie answered.

"Okay, fine then! Sorry, I just need to pull it together." James took a couple of deep breaths. "I was part of a group that was prepared for any type of catastrophe. I'm sure that they weren't expecting this, but they have food and water. If anyone stands a chance in this, it would have to be them."

"We need to call someone!" Melanie couldn't believe they hadn't done that earlier or that no one had called them yet. 'Well, other than James' family.' Melanie thought to herself. She picked up her phone and dialed Aisha. After getting voicemail she called Michael and got a hold of him.

"Hello." Michael's voice came over the line.

"Michael, are you okay?" She stumbled over her words, so glad to hear his voice. She put the phone on speaker so that everyone could here.

"Yeah, where are you?" His voice bugged Melanie so much. Why does he always have to sound calm, like he knows what he is doing? Melanie knew that Aisha was drawn in by that voice. But the only way that Melanie could get past it was that she knew he was a good guy.

"We're only a few streets north of the night club, near Veronica's house."

"Who is with you?"

"James and Veronica. What about you're group?"

"Lila, Aisha, me, and another guy we ran into named Derek. Hank didn't make it."

James came over to Melanie and gestured for the phone. When Melanie gave it to him he explained about his plan of going to emergency group he had been a member of before the madness hit.

"Sounds like a plan man, we'll find a way to meet up." Michael told him. "We're in a ware house just a few miles south of where you guys are."

As James got more specific directions on how to get to them, Melanie was taking deep breaths of relief to know that her sister, Aisha, was alive. So happy to see her sister again it was all she could think about for a few moments. She finally stopped herself when she felt a tear trail down her left cheek.

She had a new reassurance in her and spoke to the group when James hung up the phone. "We need to get to Veronica's house to get loaded up and make it to them. We will have strength in numbers. With only three of us; we aren't going to make it. Look, there was a car in the garage. I can drive around the block to attract the Plagued and make them chase the car away from the house."

"Let's do it" Veronica jumped up. 'She was just thinking about getting her guns,' Aisha thought.

"You people are dumb" James muttered. Then speaking up he explained himself, "You think that we're going to just get armed and then go all Rambo on the corpses. You're dumb…" He waited a few moments, then finally said, "But, you've got guts and I'm not going anywhere without you two. So…" He looked down shook his head and looked up. "If either of you die, I'll kill you. And I can do that since I the dead people seem to be getting back up." They shared a laugh among themselves. 'A rarity' Melanie thought.

"At dawn tomorrow, but for now we need to sleep.

The next morning Melanie headed out to the car and was stopped by James. "Are you sure that you want to do this?" He asked her.

"Don't worry it is going to be a piece of cake. They can't keep up with a car and if things get rough then I'll speed over to Aisha and their group." Melanie replied with confidence in her voice.

"All right, well when we get to Veronica's house we'll just take her car from there and meet you at the warehouse. Ok? But if anything goes wrong, then head back to us. We'll be armed by that time and you will stand a better chance with us than stuck on the road or something." James spoke in a very commanding voice to her.

"Ok, I got it." Melanie said as she got into the car.

James walked up to her window and continued talking to her, his voice had dropped in volume to a whisper. "Look I just wanted to let you know that you've really helped me get through this. I'm glad you're with us."

"Thanks." Melanie said awkwardly. Her hands were getting sweaty and her heart beat faster.

Melanie was in the car ready to go. Hiding in the house still, Veronica and James were waiting for her to get a head start. James quickly pushed the button to open the automatic garage and ran back into the house, locking the door behind him. 'No looking back now' Melanie thought to herself. There was a small horde that had gathered because of the ruckus made earlier that day. She had her crowbar that she had picked up and gathered her wits about her as the creatures began to crawl through the opening garage door. One of the monsters slammed its fists against her window, slightly cracking it. Melanie hoped that the garage door would open faster or this would be the shortest trip ever. Finally, as the window cracked again from the pounds of the cadaver, she zoomed through the opening. Scraping the top of the car, she realized that she would have to make a few more gambles with fate.

She began to honk her horn as she drove down the street at twenty miles per hour. Melanie wanted to drive slowly enough so that she could attract as many dead as possible but fast enough so that they couldn't get any more hits to her now fragile window. A group of at least forty of the horrors followed her as they clumsily ran after her. As she reached the end of the road she looked back past the crowd following her and saw two shapes safely running from one house to another. She turned in the opposite direction of the house that James and Veronica had run into and picked up speed.

She drove in circles for about an hour, trying to lose the mass of bodies behind her. Then Melanie heard a sound that echoed in her head. A cough of the car's engine indicated to her that the fuel was almost out. Her heart began to race as the accelerator responded less and less to her foot.

James watched from the second story of Veronica's house as Melanie's car slowed to a stop. He watched as a swarm of bodies piled on the car. He heard Melanie's screams echo from down the street and he had to look away. She had almost made it back, why had she stopped?

He looked away toward Veronica. She tossed a shotgun to him as she cocked her own and said, "Let's not make her sacrifice in vain." Veronica's two sisters, Mayra and Jill, were still alive and had been hiding out in the house. They both cocked their rifles and the group stormed out the front door blasting holes in the heads of several of the beasts around Veronica's car.

Hopping into the car, James, Veronica, Jill, and Mayra drove off to meet with Aisha's group. Driving past Melanie's car they saw a horde of the flesh eaters gathered over on the other side of the car in a mad frenzy. Shattered glass covered the car, the car was heavily dented in the front, a large hole was in the driver's side of the windshield, the driver's side door was opened and blood covered the hood of the car. A bloody bone was picked up by one of the freaks. To James, it seemed as though the creature was looking at him, gloating.

James looked down, not being able to look at the scene before him. He had been getting close to Melanie. His heart was broken after losing his family and a close friend within a few hours of each other. James had a conversation with the beast in his head. He heard himself think as if speaking to it, 'you may have won this, but in the end we are superior and will beat you.' His mind was filled with confidence as these thoughts filled his mind. As he continued looking at the infected man, he could have sworn that the bloody, disfigured face smiled at him. He heard a voice in the back of his head reply, 'You think you can win. You will not survive this. We will find you. We will slaughter you all.'


	6. Opened Eyes Chapter 6

Opened Eyes

Chapter 6

Aisha woke up in the back seat of a heavily damaged red car. Windows were broken, although it seemed that any glass that was there before had been cleaned up. She leaned forward and then opened the door to explore where she was. She couldn't see anyone around, just an extremely large garage, or maybe a warehouse. She called out and finally got somebody's attention.

"You're finally awake!" Lila yelled as she ran toward Aisha. Aisha was so happy to see Lila up and looking well that she sprinted toward her as well. They hugged for a long time and recounted each other's stories.

Lila explained what had happened in the apartment. That Hank had died soon after Aisha had gone in the shower. Michael and Derek had moved Lila out into the living room when Hank died, and that they had been planning on throwing Hank out the window. However, while they were talking, Hank got up as a plagued and attacked them. He jumped on Derek, trying to bite him, but Michael grabbed a board of wood and hit Hank off of Derek, then pried the door open with his metal pole that he had kept from the night club. Derek scooped up Lila and they made a run for it as Hank continued after them. When Hank almost caught up to them Michael swung around hard enough to break Hank's leg. Michael then stabbed the downed leg with the pole and Hank had pulled away hard enough to sever the leg.

"Michael's plan was to lure Hank away and then go back for you." Lila explained. "But he didn't plan on having half of the neighborhood chase after us. Derek was able to hotwire one of the cars and we drove to this warehouse. After Michael made sure I was ok he drove off after you."

"But that doesn't explain…" Aisha trailed off, interrupted by Derek.

"Lila." Derek walked down some stairs toward them. "The military followed through with the curing rain. It cures the Fever that has been going around and gives a permanent immunity; but… it has no effect on those already turned into the plagued, because they're dead. It doesn't seem to have any effect on anyone who gets bit or somehow gets one of the Plagued's fluids inside of him. That is what happened to Hank, when he killed the monster in the sewers… let's just say… he got a mouthful"

After a few seconds of silence Aisha asked, "But, where's Michael now?"

"Well, it turns out that we have neighbors." Lila answered.

"Creepy neighbors." Derek added.

"So you let him fight them off on his own!" Aisha yelled sternly.

"Whoa," Derek snapped back "I mean _live_ neighbors not the 'I'm gonna eat you' kind. But they'll only deal with Michael."

"Because you shot the first one that you saw!" Lila yelled at him. Then said to Aisha, "He was exploring the warehouse and when he rounded one of the corners a man spooked him and got shot because of it."

"These are crazy days! Can you blame me? Everyone's on edge." Derek barked.

"Hey, look who's finally awake!" Michael said as he walked down the stairs.

"Michael!" Aisha yelled excitedly. Then realizing how stupidly excitedly she looked, she decided to focus on the thanking. "Thank you so much!" She ran to him and hugged him. She reached around his back and his toned arms wrapped around her.

"Hey, I'm glad you're okay." Michael replied with his calm warm way of talking. "How is your leg?"

"My leg," Aisha hadn't really noticed anything really that different because her body was still throbbing with pain from all the things that had happened the night before. Blood covered her left leg and the Levis were torn in several places at about her knee. She slowly pulled up the leg, grunting in pain as the dry blood peeled off skin with the jeans. A large gash extending from just to the right of her kneecap went down the left side of her leg down about four inches. Aisha wished that Michael hadn't told her, because now that she knew it was there, it hurt.

"Damn, but at least I'm still in one piece. I wish I could say the same for Hank." Everyone's eyes dropped and they had a moment of silence for their departed friend.

"Anyways, to a lighter tone, guess who has food ready!" Michael said.

"Oh, hell no you didn't!" Lila laughed and she ran upstairs.

"Well, at least one of you is excited." Michael said.

"Oh no, th-thank you." As Aisha grew more and more awake the different cuts, bruises, gashes and muscle soreness from all over her body seemed to double in pain every passing moment. "I think I need to rest some more." She walked back to the car, leaving a concerned Derek and Michael behind.

"She's pretty beat up isn't she," Derek said.  
>"Yeah, I'll see what I can do." Michael replied.<p>

"Suit yourself," with that Derek walked up the stairs to join Lila.

Michael walked over to Aisha and laughing said, "you know, I've been through a lot of things, but seeing you in that situation, when I picked you up in the car," he stopped for a few seconds, with his eyebrows furrowed. "I can't believe that you were able to get as far as you did, I'm proud of you."

'Proud of me, who the hell does this guy think he is, my father', Aisha thought. Not what she needed right now.

"Ugh, I can't believe that I left you in the apartment alone, but there was Lila and Hank and all these crazy things going on at once, I hope you'll forgive me." Michael wasn't crying, but a squeak was barely detectable as he kept his emotions in check.

"Thank you, Michael for coming back." Aisha was so grateful to him, to the whole group for helping her. She gave him a long hug, and as he hugged back she got that tingling sensation all over her body again.

"Well, I'm going to go upstairs… let me know if you need anything." Michael said and with that he left.

Aisha walked over to her little seat in the car, exhausted from all of the stress and everything that had happened. Michael returned to her with a bowl of warm soup that he had made.

"It's been a while since you have eaten; you need to keep your strength up!" Michael spoke sternly yet kindly toward her. He fed her the first bite and missed her mouth by a little, soup dribble down Aisha's chin.

Laughing for a while, Michael finally said, "We're going to make it you know. We'll find refuge and make a comeback against this apocalypse. With the technology and weapons that the government has at their disposal, we _will_make a comeback." Aisha laughed at the thought that there was any hope left.

"How can we have hope when the world is turning upside down and people are dying left and right."

She collapsed on the familiar front seat where she had spent the night before and fell back to sleep.

She woke up to the sounds of people talking. Voices she didn't recognize. By the sound of it, there were at least three people walking down the stairs in her general direction. Aisha's breathe quickened and she looked around for anything that she might need to defend herself. She grabbed a tire iron she found in the back seat and ducked down, hoping she hadn't been noticed yet. As they grew closer and closer, Aisha readied herself to jump out of the car and take any down that blocked her escape.

Then, she finally heard a familiar voice.

"…I can't believe that Hank is gone." It was James. It was this moment that Aisha chose to jump out of the car so she could tackle him with a huge hug. However, James wasn't expecting the tire iron that Aisha still had in her hand and ducked, causing Aisha to trip over him.

On the ground laughing James said, "Well, I wasn't expecting a tire iron to welcome me."

"It's so good to see you James," They got up and hugged each other. "Where is everyone else?" Aisha asked

James voice dropped to just above a whisper, "Melanie… she didn't make it." The talking amongst the others with him stopped.

Aisha dropped to her knees, hoping beyond hope that this was all some nightmare, or that James' had a sick sense of humor. 'No, Melanie couldn't be gone.'

James dropped to a sitting position next to her and simply held her for a while then said, "She was helping us all get out of a tight situation and we couldn't do anything…" He was cut off by a now sobbing Aisha.

"No! I don't want to know how she died." The world had already been so gruesome to Aisha that she wasn't able to handle anything right now.

Lila had finally walked down to where they were from upstairs and knelt down to hug Aisha as well. The three were on the ground crying and comforting for a long while. When they finally got up, Aisha was shedding tears trying to regain her composure. Michael then walked over with a grim look on his face.

"We can't stay here. The neighbors offered a trade to me earlier, food for one of our woman. Of course I declined the proposition, but they threatened to take everything from us if we didn't comply. They have more weapons, more men, and a desire to see us dead." Michael explained solemnly. "I have a plan though. It will buy us some time."

Michael pulled Aisha aside and tried to comfort her about her sister, "I'm so sorry; we're going to make it you know. For all those that die with us, we will make it for them. We'll find refuge and make a comeback against this apocalypse. With the technology and weapons that the government has at their disposal, we _will_make a comeback." Aisha laughed at the thought that there was any hope left.

"How can we have hope when the world is turning upside down and our loved ones are falling like flies, first Hank and then…" Aisha couldn't bring herself to admit her sister's death out loud.

"We have each other; you, me, James, Lila and everyone that we can bring along with us. Together that is where our hope lies."

Aisha found herself part of another seemingly suicide mission. However, this time she had volunteered. Michael was so against her doing it, he tried to order her not to go. Of course, Aisha fought the attempts to control her.

Her sister's death had made her want to strike back on anyone who wanted to hurt her or those with her. She didn't want to know what happened with her sister, but her death made Aisha realize how vulnerable she really was. She felt comfort that at least Melanie was out of this world. Whatever was after this life had to be better, regardless of what anyone supposed about death. Even if it was pure oblivion, at least worries and cares would be gone.

Aisha was with James and one of the new people he had come with, Frank. Frank was about five foot seven with short messy blonde hair and a darker complexion. Their mission, to sneak into their neighbor's warehouse to steal guns and any other weapons that could be used against them. Night had fallen hours ago, and the tension had been building that entire day.

"The best way to get into their base is to sneak around outside, avoid any Plagued and get in through any back door or window that we can find." James had decided to take control of this outfit, and since he was the only one that seemed to know what he was doing, nobody fought his decisions. James was outfitted with a shotgun while Aisha and Frank both carried pistols. Sneaking outside, the group quietly crept around the large warehouse to the opposite side.

"It leads into another building." Frank noted.

"Let's try to get to the very far side of the building and work our way through." James said.

One of the creatures finally noticed them and began to limp toward them. The group sped up, trying to stay as quiet as they could. Once they finally reached the other end of the building they found a window they broke open and climbed in.

Once in they found themselves in an empty woman's bathroom. James went to the door and stood against the wall, listening for any noise. Aisha stayed right behind him, trying to be as quiet as she possibly could. Frank finally crept slowly out of the bathroom when James gave him a go ahead signal. Frank quickly snuck into the hallway and crept from corner to corner.

"It's safe," was the whisper from the hallway. Aisha and James slipped into the hallway and the group began the search for anything worth finding.

Aisha entered a room that seemed to be full of guns, ammo and other supplies that included some small medical equipment, and canned food. Grabbing one of the nearby bags she began to stuff as much ammo as she could in it. Aisha only grabbed two rifles that she was able to sling across each shoulder and found a belt with a pistol sling. Putting the belt on, Aisha slid her pistol in. A creaking in the floor stopped Aisha's and she saw a beam from a flashlight in the hall outside of the room. She heard some shots ring out in the room immediately next door, the room Frank was in. Frank and James had been searching the neighboring rooms around her and now that she heard gunfire, her fear kept her from leaving the room. She hid behind some shelves giving her enough cover not to be seen, but she was able to barely see through the shelving to the door as a man walked through the door with a rifle in tow.

James was behind the man as the hunter took aim into the room. James suddenly saw part of Aisha's shoulder sticking out in the open and, before James could aim and fire, the stranger shot. Aisha's shoulder immediately disappeared from view. James gunned down the assailant with his shotgun. Running into the room he frantically searched for Aisha.

Finally when he found her, he saw her putting on the shirt that he had seen earlier.

"Decoy," Aisha said to answer his perplexed look. She rubbed at the hole in her t-shirt where the bullet had ripped through it.

Nodding, James replied, "there is no way that anyone slept through that, we have to go now!" Before running away they stopped at the room Frank had been in they looked in, only to find his chest shot through and no pulse on the body. They exchanged glances of sorrow and then ran down the hall to get away from all the attention they had called.

Voices were yelling, calls to arms were ordered, and lights were going on everywhere.

Behind them, where all the weapons and ammo had been before, people were yelling for the lack of ammunition. Aisha and James shared a high five and continued at a run down the hallway.

"In here," James pulled Aisha into a room and they caught their breath for a few seconds. Then Aisha covered her mouth as she tried to stifle a scream. Three women were tied on beds around the room. One seemed to be dead, but the other two were clearly alive. A man was on top of one of them trying to have his way with her. Aisha drew out her newly found rifle and shot. Not having practiced too much, the shot went clear. It did enough though; the scared man jumped off and hit his head on the floor leaving him unconscious.

A moan from the girl on the bed the man had been on got James' attention and he went over to release her. Aisha went to do the same to the other breathing girl. Cutting the arm band, the girl on the bad thrashed out her arm at Aisha.

"I'm just trying to help!" Aisha yelled at the girl. She cut off the band holding the other arm and the woman in the bed began the thrash even more, trying to grab at Aisha. "What the hell, I'm trying to save you!"

"Stop!" The woman they had just saved hoarsely yelled out. "She's been infected!"

Aisha inspected the body and saw blood on the woman's pant leg. She backed up, aimed and shot the woman in the head. The body stopped squirming, and Aisha realized her breath had become rapid and harsh.

"Let's go. They'll have heard that." James yelled, he was clearly as disgusted by this evidence of rape as Aisha was. They ran farther and farther down the hallway until they found a door out of the place. Unfortunately, the door was crowded by the Plagued. A lock on a chain was the only thing that kept the door closed.

"Let's go to the door that leads to our end of the warehouse." James ordered as he pointed up a nearby staircase.

Aisha agreed to this and started up the stairwell, dragging their new female companion with them. When James was up the stairs just a little ways he turned around. Aisha noticed that he wasn't right on her heels like before and looked to see what he was doing. As soon as Aisha looked, James shot at the lock several times and demolished it. The door blew wide open and the Plagued ran in.

"Run!" James yelled. Aisha, James and the girl with them had enough of a head start that they reached the top of the stairs long before any of the Plagued had even made it half way up the stairs. At the top of the stairs: James turned around, dropped a grenade on the stairs. He then pushed Aisha and the other woman towards the door that led to their apartment. An explosion knocked them off balance and they clumsily stumbled to the door. Finally, Aisha opened it and they all ran through.

_A/N- Please let me know with a review whether you like all this or not. I am open to suggestions in every area whether it is plot holes, the plot itself, grammar, or anything else that comes to mind. Of course, let me know what you like in the story._


	7. Opened Eyes Chapter 7

Opened Eyes

Chapter 7

"What the hell was that? You can't just take people's lives into your own hands and decide who lives and dies!" Aisha yelled at James. She was horrified at his action of releasing the Plagued into the other side of the warehouse. She knew there were some evil people in there, but they couldn't have all been that horrid.

"First of all they threatened us! Or did you forget that!" He thundered back at Aisha. "Anyone that could support what we saw in that rotting hell hole. They strapped people to tables and used them, until they died! They left a Plagued woman strapped to the table! People die! If there are people like that in the world, then they deserve to die!"

"I know." Aisha had a hard time defending anyone who would do that. "But what if there were people who were against it? What if we just signed a death warrant for people just like us who are trying to make it?"

"Then they shouldn't have threatened us." James whispered menacingly and then stormed off.

Aisha just wanted to run off get food and fall asleep in order to forget this day, but she remembered their recently acquired companion.

"Are you okay?" She asked, not really knowing what else to do. The girl just stood, shaking with her back pressed in the corner. "We're not going to hurt you. I don't know what happened back there, but it is over now. Whatever you had to go through…" Aisha trailed off. She was trying to find comforting words for the poor girl, but none came. It surprised Aisha how depraved a group of people could get only about a week after this curse had come to the world. From people whose biggest worries probably were; 'does this dress make me look fat, what good movies are coming out, or is it too early to kiss her'. The days of having a normal life and normal problems were long over. Those people were changed in ways that Aisha couldn't believe were possible.

A few moments later Michael appeared from around the corner with some plates of food. "I heard what happened." He said quietly and gave Aisha a hug. Aisha didn't know if she should be crying right now or angry, or relieved. She was still in shock by James's actions and possibly more in shock by the evidence of how this girl was treated. Michael continued speaking, "I'm going to leave you two alone. We are going to be leaving tomorrow morning to where James' old emergency group gathered. Cell phones seem to have gone out, and most TV channels are also out, just a lot of white snow. Hopefully we can find more answers where we're headed." With that he left Aisha and the woman alone to eat their food.

It was quiet for a while when finally, "Priscilla." The girl finally spoke.

"What?"

"That's my name, Priscilla." The girl had a raspy voice. These people seemed to have just left her to rot. She probably hadn't eaten or drank anything in a while.

"Well it is good to finally meet you." Aisha was relieved that they hadn't picked up some girl who had been so scarred as to never talk again.

After a night's sleep the group woke up ready to meet the group that James' spoke so highly of. They had a few cars to use and began their trip. Steering past the bloodied bodies they drove out of town into the countryside.

They finally arrived in another town with only one large building and a seemingly low population of infected around.

They approached the large building when James called out, "Its James open the damn door!" a garage door slowly opened and they drove inside the large structure into a large and almost empty ground floor. Inside the building, they were quickly surrounded by a large group of armed people with their guns aimed at the group's vehicle.

One voice yelled, "Are any of you bitten!?"

James got out of the driver's side door and yelled back, "No, we're all clean!" As if it were a magic password or something the soldiers all replaced their guns to their sides and the majority walked away.

An elderly man in the group stepped forward toward James and they embraced. "It's good to see you old friend."

"Good to see that some people are still in one piece. It isn't very common nowadays."

"Don't worry, we're prepared. We have men that are trained to handle these things. Besides, this base is quite hidden. As long as nothing draws the attention of a passing horde. Many of the Plagued seem to travel as large groups, if we avoid those then we should be fine." The man turned to the rest of their group and introduced himself. "My name is General Thurman. General, because I'm former military and a military mindset is the one I want everyone to have now."

Then he gestured to a younger man next to him. "This is Lieutenant Sanders." The Lieutenant grunted at the group and then stomped off. "Sorry, he hasn't been the same since he lost some pretty important people in his life." General Thurman explained as he led them toward a hallway that extended away from the garage.

"So what do you expect from us if you have some kind of military operation going here?...Sir." Derek questioned and ended on a sarcastic note.

"Now don't misunderstand, I don't do all of the sirs and mams and boot camp isn't required." He laughed at his last comment. However, his smiled faded and then said very sternly, "Nonetheless, I do expect a tight camp. If I give an order then I expect it to be done! We're all trying to survive." He continued, "In fact, I have something that I need for you to do tomorrow. We found a settlement not far from here. The survivors don't seem to be doing very good and we want to invite them to join us. I know you just got here, but I'll send you with a few of the others here and with ammunition. You should be fine! Lieutenant Sanders will direct your mission."

Aisha looked at the man, gaining hope once again in this crazy world. They had finally found someone who knew what they were doing. A man that was confident, even in a time of hell on earth. She felt that she could trust him and her muscles that had seemed to be incredibly tense for the last week slowly relaxed.

"These will be your quarters." General Thurman directed Aisha and Lily toward a nearby door. "The rest of you will be down the hall…" His voice trailed off as Aisha and Lily entered the room. The two girls crawled into the twin beds, one on each side of the room, and quickly fell asleep.

Aisha woke up to moaning, a sound that had been chasing her for months. Jumping up to action, she tried to open her eyes enough to see what was going on. Lila was walking toward her and Aisha slowly walked to meet her. When Aisha's eyes grew accustomed to the darkened room she realized that Lila was no longer among the living. The ghastly corpse of her once-friend groaned and stumbled quickly toward her. Aisha leaped through the door yelling for anyone to come and help her.

Aisha soon found herself running down a corridor, fleeing the moans of the Plagued behind her. She didn't know what she was running toward, but she felt that she needed to get there. Glancing over her shoulder, Aisha fell to the ground and screamed when an undead woman grabbed at her. The infected girl tripped over Aisha and fell to the floor. Getting up, Aisha kicked the woman's head as she ran farther down the hallway.

The hallway of the building seemed to go on and on. Aisha didn't know how to keep going as her breath grew heavier and heavier. Her legs burned and her head ached as she pushed her body to its limits. She heard the harsh breath of the Plagued behind her and the odor of rotting flesh filled her nostrils, giving her another reason to want to stop and quit. She knew she couldn't stop, but she wanted to give into the oblivion that followed her.

Finally, as she neared the end of a hallway she saw an open door and ran into the room. Slamming the door behind her she put her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. She expected the door to be splintered behind her, but strangely she heard nothing for a long time. There seemed to be only emptiness in the dark room that she was in. Then out of nowhere she saw a light appear in the distance, almost like a spotlight. The light shone down on a lone woman that was faced away from her on her knees.

Aisha felt drawn to her and as she approached she heard a familiar voice, "You couldn't save me could you sister." It was Melanie's voice. Aisha circled around to look at her sister's face. Melanie's hair was brushed over to cover her face so Aisha reached down to move it. As Aisha pulled away her sister's hair, she saw a face bare of skin that lunged at her.

Aisha woke up in a cold sweat, trying to bring herself back to reality. She was losing her mind, it seemed as though her mental processes no longer belonged to her. She could only hope that where they were did turn out to be a safe haven. The confident General did a lot to calm Aisha, but her sister's accusation haunted her. 'You couldn't save me could you sister.' Those words ran over and over again in Aisha's head. How many others would she not be able to save?

Lila ran to her bedside from across the room and held her hand whispering calming phrases, telling her that everything was going to be okay. Aisha didn't believe Lila's reassurances, but lied with an, "I'm okay," And apologized for waking Lila. Aisha watched as Lila returned to her own bed and fell back asleep. It was a long time before Aisha found sleep again. When she did, the nightmares returned and chased her for what seemed like forever down the long hallway.


	8. Opened Eyes Chapter 8

Opened Eyes

Chapter 8

Aisha opened her eyes the next morning to the sun in her eyes, shining through her window. She was even able to take a warm shower, one of the few blessings she looked forward to whenever she got an opportunity. She crept out of the room, letting Lila sleep for a while longer. Aisha was incredibly curious as to what the General had in store for this so called 'mission'.

As she walked down the corridor she saw a girl kneeling on the ground at the end of the hallway. She was on her knees, sobbing and trying to catch her breath. Aisha jogged toward the girl to ask her what was wrong. As she approached the girl looked up. It was Melanie, but with a scarred bloodied face! Aisha stumbled to the ground behind her out of shock. Then in a blink the girl disappeared.

Behind her Michael called out, "Are you okay?!" He jogged toward her and helped her to her feet.

"I saw Melanie! She was right there in front of me!" Aisha shook her head, trying to get the image of her tortured sister out of her head.

"This has hit us all really hard. I'm sorry." Michael said and pulled Aisha into a hug as she started to sob.

"Now let's pull ourselves together and walk into our new lives. Leave our past behind us." He stated boldly. "This is our new life and may be for a long time."

"Sorry, I'm a mess. I just feel like I could have pulled myself back together in the night club and that I could be with my sister right now." Drying her eyes Aisha started to walk back to the garage where they had arrived from.

"You know, they have a breakfast waiting for us if you're interested?" Michael said with a grin. 'Even in this hell he was able to find some kind of silver lining.' Aisha thought. Michael led her down the hallway and into a large mess hall.

In the mess hall James and Veronica signaled them over to a table near a large stockpile of weaponry. Everything from pistols to flamethrowers was there. 'Another reason to feel safe' Aisha thought to herself.

At the table, Veronica was cleaning an assault rifle and James was next to her stuffing his mouth full of food. Aisha sat across from James, whom she hadn't spoken to much lately, and Michael across from Veronica.

"This place is amazing!" James exclaimed with a mouth full of food. "I wasn't even this well off before the apocalypse."

"Just remember, we're not here on a freebie!" Derek snapped at him. "We're going to have to help General Thurman with what he asks of us."

"Chill out! I know. Who the hell are you to tell me what I have to do! If anyone is going to do the ordering, it sure as hell isn't going to be you. I've put my life in jeopardy way more than you have. Where in the hell were you when Aisha and I were in the warehouse trying to sabotage the pieces of crap! I took the lives of a lot of people to get here and save your worthless hide!" James yelled back. He got up and stormed away with Veronica right on his heels.

"What's his problem?" Lila asked as she walked up to Aisha and Michael's table.

"Hell if I know! He must of gone through a load of crap in that warehouse." Michael groaned. They both awkwardly glanced at Aisha and then looked away.

Aisha realized that she needed to tell them what happened in the warehouse. Looking down she muttered, "It really was horrible… After almost being shot and seeing Priscilla and the other two girls strapped down..." Aisha was starting to tear up and Michael put one arm over her shoulder. "James was out of his mind with anger and as we climbed some stairs to get back to our side of the warehouse, he shot a lock that was holding the Plagued out of the building… They stormed in the door, killing everyone in their path."

When Aisha looked up, she saw Priscilla a few feet away. She was shaking, but her face was bland and she said, "Those bastards got everything they deserved! I hope I see their infected faces with the chance to blow them right off." Her mouth was in a tight smile and her eyes narrowed as she turned and walked back out of the room.

"Hell changes people." Lila stated simply.

"Just the people I was looking for." The General's booming voice echoed in the mess hall. "We need more bodies, and you said you were in?"

"Willing to help General." Michael said. "What do you need?"

"Honestly, I was expecting to have you guys do some work for me today. But some things came up and I don't really have anything. So make yourselves comfortable, I may have you do some raids on grocery stores or something later. But we're gonna be fine for a while. We do have some fenced off area in the middle of this building that you may want to look at."

The three of them followed him to down hallway after hallway as he explained a little more about the building, "There are actually four building that are considered safe. They are all three connected in a type of cross. But, the middle of the four buildings is what you'll find most impressive."

Nervous and excited, the three of them followed him unquestioningly toward what Aisha assumed was the center of the building. Having turned down corridor after corridor she was extremely turned around.

Down one long corridor with doors lining both sides the General explained that it was a medical area and asked, "Would you mind if we have our resident Psychologist to help Priscilla for a while. She has been through worse than most?"

"I'm all for it." Michael said, thinking about Priscilla's awkwardness around the others. "We've all gone through a lot, but she needs something to bring her out of her shell."

"I don't know," Aisha replied quietly, "What if all she needs is friends to pull her through this. She trusts James and I, I'm just not sure if…"

"She needs professional help from someone that knows what they're doing!" Veronica stormed up to the group. "That girl shared a room with me last night and had night terror after night terror. She was screaming and screaming almost nonstop. She needs help."

Aisha nodded and the General called someone named Doctor Phil with a walkie-talkie he had attached to his belt.

He ushered the group, now including Veronica, toward down another long hallway. But at the end of this hallway there was a bright light shining through some windows on the left side of the hallway. As they approached, the General push some keys on a pad to open the door. As the door slid open Aisha stepped back as she was blinded by a bright light.

It was the sun, shining through an open roof down to something even more amazing. Plants of all sorts were lining the large open area. It then occurred to Aisha, 'It's a farm!'

"You will soon be assigned to a plot of land here. You will be taught how to properly maintain the crops and expected to get to a point where you can grow enough to feed yourselves and extra, just in case of an emergency." The General explained. "We send people outside for more supplies every once and a while. But we try to grow all of our food here."

'Hope'. That was the word entering her mind. They were part of a self-sufficient group that had accepted them as one of their own.

As Aisha looked around and took everything in, the General finished a walkie-talkie conversation with someone and told Michael, Veronica and her, "Something has come up, nothing for you to worry about. But I'm going to have Lieutenant Sanders will explain your duties a little bit more." With that the General left and minutes later the Lieutenant showed up and took an hour explaining how they would best take care of their crops.

They were interrupted by a call from the General on the Lieutenants walkie-talkie. "It's Priscilla, she didn't want to go with the Doctor and started spouting out nonsense. After she tried to throw herself to the ground and do some real damage to herself we tried to apprehend her. But, she went even more berserk and…" He paused for a while as if not knowing what to say. "She threw herself out a window into the infested street below. We tried to spread out cover fire, but she didn't stand a chance. I'm so sorry." The walkie-talkie then went silent and the silence encased the area for a long time.

Silence was all that anyone heard for a few minutes. The echo of Priscilla's memory sounded throughout Aisha's mind. Priscilla had gone through so much, only to lose her mind and kill herself.

As they headed back to their rooms, Michael pulled Aisha aside from the rest of the group down a perpendicular hall. He then cheerfully asked, "When was the last time you listened to music?"

'Music', it wasn't anything that Aisha had given any thought to whatsoever. Wondering what he was getting at she commanded, "Go on…" She could use some cheering up.

"Better if I just show you," He pulled her into a storage room and moved a few boxes around before pulling out a CD player. Turning it on, the slow melody of 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing' came on. He walked up to her and with a laugh he bowed, without breaking eye contact and asked, "May I have this first dance milady?"

Aisha couldn't keep herself from laughing back at the ridiculous cheesiness of the situation and the sweetness of Michael. The terrible memory of the day slowly faded from Aisha's mind, and her thoughts filled of a hope for the future. They dance for hours before retiring for bed that night. Aisha followed Michael back to his room and, after asking James if he could find another room for they night, they disappeared behind the door and locked it.

Months passed by like this. In their safe haven they tended their crops and tried to live out their happy lives.

_Author's Note: Let me know what you guys like about the story in a review. If you've gotten this far then something must have you hooked_


	9. Opened Eyes Chapter 9

Opened Eyes

Chapter 9

Aisha's nightmares had faded a lot since the last terrible incident of Priscilla's death. Months had past and the General's "missions" mainly consisted of grabbing food or other supplies to make sure that they stayed safe and in good health. Aisha walked to the garage where the General would brief them on a new mission.

She walked up behind Lila, Veronica, Derek and James as the General began talking, "we need a few supplies from the Southside group," Another ordinary mission to trade things with another group of survivors that lived a few miles away. Not much had changed over the months except that the infected seemed to have dwindled slightly or move on. Every once and a while a horde would pass by them and the population of infected would rise for a way, but the building they were in was arranged to be practically impenetrable and the hordes moved on. The first floor had been practically hollowed out and stairs were destroyed, with rope ladders put in place to allow access between the floors. The vehicles had been fortified and were left alone by the infected, so whenever they were going on a mission they simply climbed downstairs and they almost never saw an infected around.

Tuning back in the General continued, "We've developed a sort of grenade that spreads a liquid that resembles the smell of blood over an area to distract any incoming infected, get yourselves out of a tight spot with that." Aisha tuned out again, hoping that one of the others would catch everything important. Aisha didn't even think about her sister anymore, as painful as it was to let her imagination flow with thoughts of a miracle happening. The group of friends had a simple funeral for Priscilla that was rather short, since they didn't know her very well.

Aisha jumped when she was yanked from her thoughts by a pinch on her backside. She quickly turned, gave Michael a hug and scolded him, "you dirt bag, what took you so long."

"Wanted to miss the, oh-so-fun, lecture by the boss." Michael smiled that smile that drove Aisha nuts. They had grown close over the last few months and if there was any recognizable authority left, they probably would have gotten married.

Heading out for the day in one of the fortified cars, James made sure to hit a couple of the walking corpses on the way out of the city. They headed south to another group of survivors that they often traded with. As they approached the citadel, Aisha had a chill run down her spine as she saw all the destruction around her that reminded her of the many that had been lost.

James pulled in their vehicle through a gate that led into a large area surrounded by a high cement wall. It was possible that it was some kind of prison at one time, but it was mostly open with a few small building scattered across the area and a large number of tents situated in the middle of the area. They parked near a wooden structure and the man that had become one of James' close friends, Earl, came out to great them.

"Hey folks, how did the trip fair for ya?" Earl's voice was deep and calming to Aisha, he had won her trust almost immediately when she met him. He was a short, skinny man with a darker skin tone. He had been the first to connect the two groups and set up the arrangements of trade between them. They had more ammunition supplies because they were closer to a larger city and military base, while the General's group had a lot of farming that went on, making food plentiful.

"Earl, it's good to see you again." James approached him and they clasped each other's hands…

"Likewise, James" Earl responded. They headed into the small wooden building to take care of all the details of the trade.

The group still by the car, including Michael, Aisha, Derek, Veronica, and Lila, began to unload the food that would be traded into a little storage area that Earl's camp had set up. After finishing, James finally came out with his face completely white and said, "Guys, I need to talk to you." The group began walking to the middle of the camp. "Something seems to have happened." James started to lead them toward a long building that seemed like some kind of storage facility. He continued, "They think they have a device that can kill zombies in a huge area, without killing humans."

Everyone stopped dead. "What?" Michael said as his mouth dropped.

"I don't know let's just go see."

As they entered the building the group began to walk around a huge group of people that were looking at a small piece of metal that looked like a really small satellite.

Earl came in a few moments after they did and began to describe how it worked. "It changes and amplifies radio waves in a way that affects anything with the plague will die."

"Not just die," An older man spoke up from near the equipment. "It will for all intents and purposes, break apart the virus and destroy the virus itself." Turning toward the group he introduced himself. "I am Dr. Liam Wedsworth, leading researcher here. I've been studying everything like this for longer than you were all born. It will decimate all the This will work!" He exclaimed that last part and turned back to his work.

"Wow" Derek said.

"Yeah, that would be amazing." Lila commented.

"Well, I'm gonna see what we can do?" Veronica approached the Doctor at the table.

"What do you think," Michael asked Aisha as he turned to face her. Aisha's was frozen as she stared at the group of people around the machine. "What is it?" Michael asked again.

Aisha walked toward the group of people and whispered, "Melanie?"


	10. Opened Eyes Chapter 10

Opened Eyes

Chapter 10

*Melanie's story*

A/N: If you need to review, read chapter 5 before starting this.

As the accelerator responded less and less to her foot she did the first thing that her mind thought of. A dog was on the side of the road barking at the car. She swerved the car toward the animal and hit it before the car came to a stop. Plagued surrounded the car as they swarmed over the dead animal. The dog was thrown onto the hood of the car and blood splattered across the hood. The Plagued crowded around the front of the car. One of the monsters spotted her and dove at her. The windshield cracked and the beast threw itself again at the windshield, putting a small hole in it. Melanie was in shock as she saw her life flash before her eyes and she screamed as the corpse reached through the opening in the windshield, making the hole wider and wide.

Finally, Melanie came out of her daze and saw an opening on her side of the car. The Plagued were mostly gathered in the front of the car, leaving a path from the driver's side door to an alley way unguarded. An opportunity Melanie took advantage of as she threw the door open. Melanie screamed as one of the walking corpses charged toward her. Before it grabbed her she was able to duck down underneath its arms and kicked at its legs, knocking it down. The Plagued in front of the car began to realize she was there and a few of the undead, those that couldn't get close enough to the dog to feast, began to chase after her.

Running through the alleyways, Melanie realized that she just escaped Death's trap. She might see her sister again, she might live! She grabbed onto a fire escape ladder and climbed up. The ladder seemed to have taken some previous damage and was shaking as Melanie climbed up. When she got near the top it began to break loose and one of the arms that attached the ladder to the floor above broke loose. Melanie held on for dear life thinking she was about to fall into the mass of corpses below, but the one arm left held the ladder. Her arms were holding tight to a rung and her legs wrapped around a lower rung as the ladder spun around and jostling Melanie and almost throwing her off balance. As one leg came loose she did all she could to throw herself back at the ladder and in the process hit her left leg hard on one of the rungs. Her ankle twisted in a deformed way and she crawled up the ladder slowly with her good appendages. When Melanie finally reached the top she kicked off the loose arm of the ladder with her good leg and climbed through a window into an apartment as the ladder crashed into the group of Plagued below.

She spent a long uneventful week eating what remained of canned foods that she found in the house. Finally one day she heard an electronic voice coming from somewhere in the apartment. She cautiously explored the apartment, so as not to alert anything to her presence. In the back room she located the source of the noise, a Ham Radio.

"Honey, please! If you're there, talk to me!" The man's voice was desperate. "I've found a way to end this apocalypse! I'm coming home to you. Please… be there." The man trailed off, and the voice stopped.

Melanie grabbed the radio and replied to the voice, "I'm sorry, there's no one else here."

Melanie felt so sorry for the man that had lost his family, but realized that this was the world that they lived in. It had been a few months since this apocalypse had started and Melanie seemed to be getting used to all hell. After a long silence the man finally spoke again, "I guess I knew it all along, no one seems to survive. It's just a matter of time. I thought that these things might have starved by now, but it seems as though their metabolism is extremely slow as they expend little energy." The man was silent after that for a long time until, "I'm Liam, by the way. I've been studying this plague since it began thank fully I've survived up until now. I found a way to kill these things in mass!" His voice was more excited now. "A sonic boom, one that can cover long distances. It can be carried on radio waves and wipe out a cities worth of the plagued. Some military groups were using it before all this happened and they needed a very powerful one to kill humans. But, these _things_ are practically falling apart as it is. They just need a little push. The sonic waves will go through walls and should rip the cannibals to shreds."

"What do you mean, _should"_ Melanie queried.

"Well, this is all just math on a table and I only have acquired a very small device for putting out sonic waves. However, it has been much more effective than relying on a bullet to hit them in the head. After a few more moments of silence he invited. "I'm on my way to a military research facility. Come with me!"

"I can't, I'm badly hurt. I broke something in my leg."

"Then I'll come to you. Sorry, I don't mean to be so forward. But I am desperate to be around another human. I can't be alone any longer. I'm gonna meet up with my son soon and then we'll find you. If you find him first, his name is Arthur." The man did seem at the end of his rope. Melanie shared his desire for human companionship and agreed. She thought she might have been losing her mind. After giving him the address of the apartment that she was staying in, they exchanged farewells and broke contact.

A few days later she hadn't had any further contact with Liam, so she drove over to where Michael had said the group had been staying, assuming that Liam hadn't been able to make it. She found nothing except for a large herd of Plagued concentrated on one side of the building. She drove around honking for a while, hoping that someone would answer her. But as the hordes of Plagued grew closer to her she sped off back to her apartment.

She returned to her apartment to find the door bashed opened. Melanie pulled out a knife from her belt and quietly snuck into the apartment. She saw a trail of blood lead into the apartment and slowly followed it inside. Once inside the apartment, she noticed a few things. The couch had blood covering one of the cushions and a Plagued body was lying on the floor nearby. She heard grunt coming from the back of the apartment and she walked slowly toward the noises and saw a Plagued slamming its body against the bedroom door and two more on the ground ripping apart and eating a man's recently deceased body.

Then she heard the screams of a man hiding behind the slowly shattering door, "Matt are you there? Are you okay?!" Melanie assumed that he was referring to the dead man on the floor. She hesitated to take on three of the Plagued by herself, but didn't want to leave the man to die in there. It would also lead to her having to find a new place to stay. Finally, one of the Plagued noticed her. She had stood there taking in the situation for too long. The limping dead woman staggered toward her with a long moan that grabbed the attention of the other Plagued. The three slowly made their way toward her. Melanie needed a plan and she needed one fast. The door behind the creatures creaked slowly open and a man peeked through the small opening.

He called out to Melanie, "What are you doing? Run!" The plagued then noticed him and two turned to go after him, while the one closest to Melanie continued to follow her as she backed up toward the wall behind her. Finally, Melanie's back hit the wall and the monster lurched forward toward her. Melanie quickly dodged to her left and grabbed a potted plant nearby and smashed the creature in the head. It fell to the ground, but wasn't beaten. As it struggled to get up, Melanie plunged her knife deep into the back of its skull. Filled with adrenaline, she advanced toward the two Plagued that were approaching the retreating man. She jumped at the first one, tackling down to the ground, and drove her knife deep into the back of its skull. The final walking cadaver saw how close Melanie was and dove at her, pinning her to the ground. Straining its neck, the creature desperately snapped its jaw at her flesh, only inches away. Without warning, the creatures head flew off to Melanie's right and blood sprayed all over her body. Grateful she had closed her mouth; Melanie threw the body off of her and got up to find the man holding a large pipe covered in blood.

"Are you okay?" The man asked Melanie. He was an older gentleman, with messy white hair and a short, thick beard that stretched from sideburn to sideburn.

"I'm fine." Melanie didn't think she would ever get the hang of fighting the creatures. "Who are you?"

"Sorry, I'm Liam. We spoke over the radio." He replied. "I was with…" He cut himself off as he looked down at the torn apart body on the floor; tears were forming in his eyes. "His name was Arthur, my son. Now…" He picked up the body by the arms and dragged it over to the window, throwing it down to the street below, cursing as he did so. "Sorry, you never know when the body might get back up."

After a while of silence, they heard the moans of Plagued coming toward the apartment from down the hall. "We need to go," Aisha told him in a hushed tone. "I have a car, do you know somewhere we can go?"

He pulled his gaze away from the window and finally replied, "There is a group outside of the city with a huge wall surrounding their community, I passed them on the way to meet my son. There is a good man named Earl there that can help us and has my equipment for the Cleansing… the destruction of the plague and the cleansing of the human race. We must hurry."

Melanie pulled her knife out of the skull of the fallen Plagued she had killed and the two climbed out the window and slid down a drain pipe that barely held as they made their way to Melanie's car, and freedom.


End file.
